In the context of smart metering, auxiliary devices used with electricity meters are often placed next to the electricity meter. For example, in Germany it is a requirement that electricity meters be capable of being connected to auxiliary device modules, and that such connections be provided with fuses for safety. These additional modules, such as gateways, modems, tariff modules or customer information modules must be supplied with mains voltage.
In principle, the electrical connection to these auxiliary devices may be mounted in one of two different ways. Either the electrical connection to the mains is before the electricity meter, or else it is after the meter. In the first case, also known as the unmeasured connection, the meter will not register the consumption of the connected auxiliary device and the consumption will be at the electricity supplier's expense. In the second case, the auxiliary device is connected after the meter, which implies that the consumption it be registered by the electricity meter and therefore at the customer's expense.
The choice of connection depends, among other things, on the power consumption of the connected auxiliary device. The choice of connection type is generally given to the technician installing the auxiliary device. However, during the lifetime of the meter it may be desirable to change the connection type between these two states, such that the meter may register the energy consumption of the auxiliary device, or else such that the meter does not register the energy consumption of the auxiliary device. For example, when there is a change in energy supplier, the customer's contract may stipulate that auxiliary devices connected to the meter must be operated at the customer's expense, in which case the connection type may need changing.
According to general installation rules, the connection to the auxiliary device or devices must be protected by an electrical fuse against over-current. Fuses, which are generally installed before the electricity meter, must fulfill the requirements to a defined maximum High Breaking Capacity (HBC). If the connection needs to be switched, then typically a jumper located before the meter must be operated to break the connection, after which the fuse may be manually relocated to change the commotion type. However, jumpers generally have high restrictions (for example, they must have double isolation) and add expense to the meter setup.
There is therefore a need in the art to provide an improved device end method that aim to address these and other deficiencies encountered in the prior art. The present disclosure proposes a novel device and method for safely and efficiently changing the connection type.